Believe me, even with a severe disability and mental illness from time to time, I still have stereotypes and stigmas about various groups of people including the disabled. I do believe I have an excellent judge of character and I see the good in everyone, which can become a problem when choosing males to date...right mom? (That male I moved to Chicago for constantly looked like he had just stole your wallet, still a great guy, asshole, but great guy)
I pick and choose who I help. I can read people like books. I started going to the Starbucks on Division and Dearborn regularly. I can't remember when we first met, but he called me Angel. He didn't ask me for money, all he wanted was a hello. So I stopped and chatted. We got to know each other and I disclosed to him what I do for a living and I offered him my advice.
The thing that got me really going on Lee's fight for independence was when I witnessed a cop verbally assault and kick him out of Starbucks on Halloween night. I am not phased by much in life but what I saw almost brought me to tears and I went into fighting mode. This case against this cop is what we were working on when I noticed that Lee was colder than usual, not completely responsive, and more agitated than usual. I brought him to my own apartment, had him checked out by a friend who's a nurse and from there got him admitted into a hospital. From just looking at him he had cellulitis, which was taking place under his left knee. He had an out of control infection. The kind of infection you can smell.